Daily Real Estate News | August 17, 2010 | 2010 Good Neighbor Awards FinalistsReal estate professionals play an important leadership role in building our communities, sharing their time and talents to help others in need. Ten such individuals were recognized today by the National Association of REALTORS® as finalists for REALTOR®Magazine’s 2010 Good Neighbor Awards.

For 11 years, the Good Neighbor Awards program has recognized REALTORS®who volunteer to serve the basic needs of some of the community’s most vulnerable individuals. These REALTORS®donate countless dollars and unpaid hours of service to organizations that help improve and enhance their communities .

In November, five winners will be selected from among the 10 finalists and will receive travel expenses to the 2010 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in New Orleans, national media exposure for their community cause, and a $10,000 grant for their charity. The five honorable mentions will receive a $2,500 grant. The winners will be announced in the November/December issue of REALTOR®Magazine.

“REALTORS® build communities and understand the importance of helping others,” said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder. “Many organizations are struggling today to do more with fewer resources, which makes the work of volunteers so much more important. The Good Neighbor Award finalists deserve to be recognized for the time, energy and ideas they bring to their community organizations.”

The REALTOR® Magazine Good Neighbor Awards finalists are:

James Arnhold,Source Realty, LLC, Virginia Beach, Va.Arnhold has supported EQUI-KIDS Therapeutic Riding Program, an organization thatoffers therapy to people with mental and physical disabilities, since 2002, when he and his partnerdonated 92 acres of land for its move and expansion. He supervised the facility’s construction, including an indoor horse-riding arena to allow therapy year-round. He has also headed the Capital Campaign and raised more than $3 million for the organization. Currently, 70 students a week work with the horses to improve self-confidence, fine motor skills, balance, concentration, and social skills.

Keri Kidd Cannon and Pam Kidd, Fridrich & Clark Realty LLC, Nashville, Tenn.This mother and daughter team have been helping people in Zimbabwe since 1999, traveling to this struggling African country more than 20 times. They founded Village Hope, a rural orphanage that cares for 20 children and also founded an outreach program for street children and homeless adults in the capital city of Harare. They feed 900 school children per day as well as hundreds of people from surrounding villages. Their agricultural programs provide seed corn and farm animals and teach farming techniques. They recently helped launched a dental clinic and are training locals to provide basic dental care.Cathie McGregor Critchlow, The Franklin Group Morgan LLC, Morgan, Utah Critchlow is president and co-founder of The Women’s Retreat House, a live-in spiritual 12-Step retreat home that houses up to 20 women at a time for up to four months while they overcome addiction. Critchlow manages the all-volunteer staff and works hands-on with the residents to help them overcome their addictions and assess their needs for counseling, parenting classes, job training, medical attention, and domestic violence counseling. More than 275 women have been served since the retreat house opened its doors in 2008.

James T. Elcock, Elcock Properties, St. Charles, Mo.Elcock founded Kids Against Hunger, Metro St. Charles/St. Louis satellite to provide nutritionally rich food to fight hunger in the U.S. and abroad. Since 2009 he has distributed 550,000 meals — locally through the St. Louis Food Bank, for disaster relief in the U.S. and Haiti, and internationally to countries suffering from chronic hunger including Nicaragua and Uganda. Elcock has involved more than 3,000 volunteers in food packaging events, which are organized to assemble the unique rice-based recipe that costs only 23 cents a serving.

Janice Mueller, RE/MAX Creative Realty, Lexington, Ky.Mueller founded the Makenna Foundation, which in nine years has raised more than $1.2 million and is the largest fundraiser for the Kentucky Children’s Hospital. Funds have provided state-of-the-art medical equipment and much-needed renovations. In July 2010, the foundation celebrated the grand opening of the Makenna David Pediatric Emergency Center, with a child-friendly waiting room and 15 state-of-the-art exam rooms.

Joseph D. Perry, RE/MAX–Gold, Clovis, Calif.Ten years ago, Perry founded an after-school mentoring and tutoring program, Boys2Men Girls2Women, which now serves 125 children, ages 6 to 18. Most children are from low-income single-parent households in Fresno, Calif., where the dropout rate is one of the highest in the country and 35 percent of children live below the poverty level. The program pairs each child with caring mentors and provides homework assistance, individualized tutoring and leadership development classes.

Dave Philp, Coldwell Banker Burnet, Chaska, Minn.For more than 25 years, Philp has supported the Ridgeview Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Ridgeview Medical Center, a nonprofit regional health care network in the western suburbs of Minneapolis. Philp has raised $3 million through annual golf tournaments and other events; that money has been critical to building a state-of-the-art birthing center, neonatal care unit, a hospice home, a heart center, and a scholarship fund to address the shortage of healthcare workers.

Thomas Joseph Rempson, T.R. Lawing Realty Inc., Charlotte, N.C.Rempson founded Realtors® Care Day, a community-wide home repair project run through the Charlotte Regional REALTOR® Association that helps deserving homeowners with critical but unaffordable home repairs and safety modifications. In 2010, more than 700 Realtors® worked at 31 homes making repairs, replacing roofs and building wheelchair ramps. Rempson facilitated partnerships with other local housing nonprofits to identify people who needed help and partnered with a company to recycle roof shingles into asphalt for local roads.

Wendy & John Rocca, Century 21 Commonwealth, Watertown, Mass.The Roccas founded Operation American Soldier in 2003 while their daughter was deployed in Iraq. OAS sends “cheer” packages and letters of support to soldiers, especially those who otherwise would receive nothing at mail call. More than 30,000 pounds have been sent overseas, filled with snacks, beverages, books, magazines and other fun items. Each box also contains a letter asking if the soldier knows of anyone else who is not receiving support from home who would appreciate a package. The Roccas have spent more than $15,000 of their own money on postage and goods.

Kim Turley, Prudential California Realty, Yucaipa, Calif.In 1998 Turley founded Joseph’s Storehouse Food Bank and Resource Center, now called The Blessing Center, which provides food and clothing for distressed families in Redlands, Calif. The center now serves 9,000 people per month within a 30-mile radius, and involves volunteers from more than 20 local churches and dozens of civic groups. They provide Thanksgiving dinner for 1,500 needy families and recently acquired a 10,000 square-foot building, which will house a cold-weather homeless shelter. “REALTORS® volunteer because they want to make a difference and help somebody,” said NAR Vice President of Publications and REALTOR® MagazineEditorial Director Pamela Geurds Kabati. “It certainly makes a difference to the individuals they help, but the community as a whole also benefits from their generosity.”REALTOR®Magazine’s Good Neighbor Awards is sponsored by Lowe’s and HouseLogic. In addition to the grant awards, each of the Good Neighbor Award winners will receive a $2,000 Lowe’s gift card, and each of the honorable mentions will receive a $1,000 Lowe’s gift card.

Nominees were judged on their personal contribution of time, as well as financial and material contributions, to benefit their cause. To be eligible, nominees must be NAR members in good standing. More information about the Good Neighbor Awards finalists is available at www.realtors.org/goodneighbors.

Lowe’s has worked with customers to maintain and improve their homes since 1946. Lowe’s is proud to support the Good Neighbor Awards. Lowe’s is a proud supporter of Habitat for Humanity International, American Red Cross, SkillsUSA/SkillsCanada, and The Nature Conservancy, in addition to numerous nonprofit organizations and programs that help communities in North America. Lowe’s, a proud partner in NAR’s REALTOR Benefits® Program, brings REALTORS® exclusive benefits to help build relationships with their customers, generate referrals, and expand their client base. The benefits program is featured on www.LowesRealtorBenefits.com.

HouseLogic, is a free source of information and tools from the National Association of REALTORS® that can help home owners make smart and timely decisions about their home. With content covering home improvement, maintenance, taxes, finance, insurance, and even ways to get involved in and enrich their community, HouseLogic can help home owners increase and protect the value of their home by helping them make confident decisions.